by smashedo -

Press Release – Smash EDO prepares for march against the prospect of war with Iran

Smash EDO have called for three months of direct action to close down EDO MBM – From 1st May to 1st August 2012.

Smash EDO, Brighton’s anti-arms protest group and its supporters will be marching through Brighton on Monday 4th June to protest against the continued presence of EDO MBM in the community and the recent aggression against Iran.

The demonstration is part of the campaign’s ongoing Summer of Resistance that has seen regular noise demonstrations, critical mass bike rides and direct action against the factory. The march aims to draw attention to Israel, the UK and the USA’s warmongering and reflects the campaign’s desire to build a widespread anti-war movement to counter the prospect of yet another brutal imperialist war.

Andrew Beckett, press spokesperson for the group said “Israel’s recent warmongering is disturbing at best. Their willingness to playwith fire and risk the lives of thousands in an attack on Iran is deeply callous. Support in the US and UK for such an attack is also deeply worrying. It is important that we build an anti-war movement that learns the lessons of the Iraq war in order to prevent further bloodshed.”

The march will assemble at midday at the Barclays branch on North Street (the market-maker for EDO MBM’s parent company ITT Exelis) and march along Western Road to Hove Town Hall.
For interviews email  smashedopress@riseup.net or call 07526557436

by smashedo -

Statement on John Catt's Judicial Review

John Catt had appealed against the retention of data on him by the National Domestic Extremism Database. Today his attempt at a Judicial Review failed.

It is no surprise to us that the courts have backed police attempts to counteract effective resistance to state-militarism and to corporate power.However, today’s court judgement effectively legitimises the monitoring and surveillance of anyone who takes part in protests, or raises their voice against the manufacture of weapons at EDO.Lord Justice Gross’s judgement states that Mr Catt’s involvement in the campaign, for which he has never been convicted of a crime, “belies any reasonable expectation of privacy, at least for the duration of the Smash EDO campaign.”

Gross goes on to justify the judgement by giving the example of the £300,000 worth of damage caused to the factory’s production line during Israel’s massacre in Gaza. He omits to mention that those responsible for the damage were found not-guilty by a jury on the basis that they had acted to prevent war crimes.

The campaign against EDO MBM will continue until the factory’s manufacture of weapons components in Brighton ceases.

The full text of the judgement can be found at  http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2012/1471.html

 

 

by smashedo -

A few words on sensationalist journalism, protest bans and the local rag

Those who regularly follow the news in Brighton inevitably come across the inane ramblings of Brighton’s very own tabloid rag The Argus.

This week ‘crime reporter’ Ben Parsons saw fit to muse in The Argus on whether protest should be banned in Brighton, prompting the often less than liberal local constabulary to confirm that even they thought a ban might be a touch draconian.

Hardly renowned for its integrity in reporting, The Argus has increasingly resorted to overly sensationalist journalism in a cynical attempt to boost its ratings.

by smashedo -

Smash EDO Open Letter to The Argus on the queen, the Tories and Iran warmongering

We at Smash EDO would like to take this opportunity to clear a few things up and correct some of the rumours that are floating about surrounding our upcoming march on 4th June

Firstly, we have absolutely no intention of disrupting or ruining anybody’s day off and our aim is not to bring chaos and violence on to the streets of Brighton but to highlight the complicity of certain members of our community in international war-mongering

by smashedo -

John Catt challenges police surveillance

On 9th February 2012 John Catt, a campaigner against arms dealers EDO MBM Technology Ltd in Brighton, a subsidiary of American arms company ITT Exelis Inc, brought a case in the high court over the retention of data by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) on the National Domestic Extremist Database.

During the case Jeremy Johnson, lawyer for the Metropolitan Police and ACPO, said that 261 individuals details were stored on the database because of their connections to Smash EDO.